Purpose

To consolidate, disseminate, and gather information concerning the 710 expansion into our San Rafael neighborhood and into our surrounding neighborhoods. If you have an item that you would like posted on this blog, please e-mail the item to Peggy Drouet at pdrouet@earthlink.net

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Uber Calls Woman's 20-Mile Nightmare Abduction an "Inefficient Route"

By Sam Biddle, October 14, 2014

Several days ago, a Los Angeles Uber
customer decided to leave a party for home early via UberX, the
company's affordable taxi replacement. Instead of taking her home, the
driver took her on a nightmare ride to an abandoned lot—and Uber doesn't seem to care.

The
passenger—who asked that I not use her name out of fear for her own
safety—entered her home address in the Uber app before her ride arrived.
Uber touts this smartphone feature as a time-saving mechanism. But as
seen in the screenshot above, provided by the passenger, she was taken
almost 20 miles out of her way, while the driver ignored her questions
and directions. They finally arrived in a dark, empty parking lot in the
middle of the night, despite her repeated protests. When she tried to
exit the car, her driver locked the doors, trapping her inside. Only
when she caused a commotion and screamed did he finally return her home.
What should have been a quick ride took over two hours.

The
next day, shaken, the passenger detailed her story to Uber. In
response, she received only an "automated" email reply apologizing for
the "inefficient route." The passenger's fare was partially refunded,
with no acknowledgement of the fact that she was basically briefly
kidnapped (she's now dealing with the LAPD and an attorney). A day
later, the remainder of her fare was reimbursed. That's the extent of
Uber's response. They seem sorry!

Let's get some things out of the way:

Yes, there are dangerous people in any industry.

Yes, there are dangerous taxi drivers.

No, Uber isn't actively recruiting criminals and creeps.

But the company demonstrates, again, and again, and again,
that it cares more about beating back regulations and destroying
organized taxi services than it does about you, your happiness, or your
wellbeing. Uber is one of the only startups that's skipped straight to
the large, unfeeling, contemptuous phase of any corporation—dismissing a
kidnapping attempt as an "inefficient route" is so horrifically perfect
for Uber that it comes off as a bad joke. But it's not a joke, and now a
dangerous person—who Uber will of course remind you is not technically
an Uber employee, but instead a mere independent contractor!—has this
woman's home address. For now, she explained to me via telephone,
audibly shaken, she's staying in a hotel.